AI Learns to ‘Feel’ Surfaces Through Quantum Technology

Scientists have made a significant breakthrough by enabling artificial intelligence (AI) to ‘feel’ surfaces for the first time. This remarkable capability opens up fresh possibilities for AI applications in various industries.

Using principles from quantum science, researchers combined a laser scanning technology with a new AI model that can differentiate various surfaces based on laser imaging.

According to a study published on October 15 in Applied Optics, the system utilizes short bursts of laser light that can detect the contour of a surface.

‘This is a marriage of AI and quantum,’ stated study co-author Daniel Tafone, a PhD candidate at New Jersey’s Stevens Institute of Technology. The innovative idea emerged from processing the flaws, known as speckle noise, in the returned light to extract surface details.

The research team tested their method on several samples, including various grades of industrial sandpaper with roughness ranging from 1 to 100 micrometers. The average error was around 8 micrometers, which improved to 4 micrometers after multiple analyses by the AI.

‘Interestingly, our system worked best for the finest-grained surfaces,’ Tafone added, highlighting practical implications for materials relevant in many applications.

Among the potential uses of this technology, the researchers suggest its application in medical diagnostics, particularly in detecting the thickness of potentially harmful moles.

‘Tiny differences in mole roughness, too small to see with the human eye but measurable with our proposed quantum system, could differentiate between medical conditions,’ noted Yuping Huang, director of Stevens’ Center for Quantum Science and Engineering. ‘This technology represents a significant leap in how we perceive and utilize material characteristics.’

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• Innovation in Science
• Surface Detection